AC Milan vs Inter LIVE: Result and reaction from Champions League semi-final as Inter take control of tie

This is the 236th Milan derby - a rivalry going back to 1908 when a group split away from AC Milan to set up Inter.

Inter have won 87, Milan 79 and there’s been 69 draws.

They have met 178 times in Serie A with the other meetings coming in different versions of the Italian league, cups and the Champions League.

Fikayo Tomori is the first Englishman to feature in a UEFA Champions League semi-final for a foreign team since Steve McManaman for Real Madrid in 2003, 20 years ago.

After winning four of their first five semi-final ties, the Nerazurri have only one victory in the last three. They are now level with Ajax on nine European Cup semi-finals; only seven clubs have featured more.

This is the Nerazzurri’s 16th Champions League campaign and a fifth in a row, their longest run since they appeared for ten successive seasons between 2002/03 and 2011/12.

It is their 12th appearance in the knockout stage.

Only Real Madrid (32), Bayern (20) and Barcelona (17) have featured in more semi-finals than Milan’s 13. This is their seventh last-four appearance in the Champions League era, matching Juventus’s Italian record.

The Rossoneri have won eight of their last nine semi-final ties.

At the training grounds of both Milan clubs this week, the players have been enduring the same feeling that many of their more distinguished predecessors did in 2003. It is one that might run against all of the understandable excitement leading up to a second Champions League semi-final derby between Internazionale and AC Milan. That feeling is that this is not a game to really be enjoyed, or even looked forward to in any way. Then, 20 years ago, Alessandro Costacurta was already one of the most decorated players in football but he felt a tension before that match that he hadn’t ever experienced in his career. Not before his first European Cup final in 1989. Not before the World Cup final in 1994.

It was a fear of failure, that the cost of defeat to your greatest rivals was much greater than the value of victory. Little wonder the tie only featured one goal. And these were teams that had far more medals and football status than their successors today.

That is what makes the feeling now all the deeper, because the stakes are consequently so much higher. It is not just a precious chance at Champions League glory, with the pride of beating your city rivals. It is that there is no guarantee either will be back next season, or any time soon. This is not Andriy Shevchenko, Javier Zanetti, Hernan Crespo or Fabio Cannavaro, all of whom would have viewed the 2003 tie as the sort of game they should regularly be involved in. Many of these players might not get that opportunity, at least at these clubs.

The Rossoneri are also taking part in a second successive all-Italian tie having knocked out Serie A leaders Napoli in the quarter-finals.

Inter overcame Portuguese pair Porto and Benfica to set up this tie.

Inter have reached this stage of the competition for the first time since their successful 2009/10 campaign, which culminated in a victory against Bayern in the Madrid showpiece.

In the semi-final, goals from Sneijder, Maicon and Milito helped overturn Pedro’s opener in the home leg against Barcelona, who were unable to claw back the deficit in the return fixture later that month.

Inter are in the last four for the first time since claiming their third European Cup in 2009/10 while Milan have reached a first semi-final in 16 seasons – although they have a proud record to draw on having won eight of their last nine contests at this stage.

AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud is determined to roll back the years as he attempts to add another Champions League crown to his collection of honours.

The Frenchman, who will celebrate his 37th birthday in September, picked up a winner’s medal as an unused substitute in Chelsea’s 1-0 final victory over Premier League rivals Manchester City in 2021 and is refusing to allow age to diminish his hunger for future success.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Wednesday evening’s eagerly-anticipated semi-final clash with neighbours Inter, Giroud said: “Today I’m more motivated than ever.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity to win the Champions League. I’m [nearly] 37 years old, but I have the same motivations as a young boy.”

For the third time, the Champions League stages an all-Milan knockout tie as seven-time winners AC Milan face neighbours Inter, the last Italian side to lift the trophy, in the semi-final first leg at San Siro, the ground the teams share.

Milan have won both previous contests on aggregate against their neighbours, including at this stage of their victorious 2002/03 campaign.